Modelling and Economic Analysis of an Improved Duplex Solar still

Abstract:

Water is one of the most significant substances on earth. With growing population and exploitation of resources, the quality and availability of water is deflating. Many conventional methods like reverse osmosis, electrolysis and in situ chemical oxidation are being used for water purification. Solar distillation, a simple and economical method using renewable solar energy is being considered in various parts of the world. Research is carried out in various parts of the world to improve the efficiency of this process. In this paper an attempt is made to model the performance of a solar still and is used to analyse the performance of an improved solar still which has an additional compartment placed above the conventional solar still in order to increase its yield for the same area. The water held in the top compartment is heated with the help of solar radiation and hot water is supplied into the bottom compartment of the solar still through a flat plate collector of 1 m². The model indicates that with an inclusion of top compartment, the yield of the modified duplex solar still increases by 128 %. The effective area of the solar still is 1 m². The angle of inclination of the glass cover is taken as 19^o and the thickness of the glass cover for the top and bottom still is considered as 3 mm and 6 mm respectively. The payback period and the cost per litre of potable water produced with modified solar still is calculated and is compared with the conventional solar still.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 592-594)
• Pages: 2386-2390
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.592-594.2386
• Online since: July 2014
• Authors: Deepak Kumar Murugan*, Elumalai Natarajan
• Keywords: Economic Analysis, Solar Distillation, Solar still, Theoretical Analysis, Yield Output

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